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One veteran’s fight for home

It was the day after Christmas 2012, and Robert Long was out of options.

The New Jersey native had seen his share of misery. From a childhood he describes as tough, to an adulthood marred by depression, substance abuse and divorce, he’d experienced more than enough to land him on Philadelphia’s streets.

Still, for Long, a soft-spoken man with an affable manner and eyes that have witnessed too much, homelessness was beyond the pale.

He’d once had it all: A 27-year marriage that produced three sons, 18 years of military service that propelled him to the rank of captain and a long career at an oil refinery that provided a middle-class living for the family he cherished.

Yet, despite all he’d done in service to his family and his nation, Long — who’d served in both the Army and National Guard — found himself addled by cocaine addiction and depression.

Photo: Robert Long (left) speaks with Earl Driscoll, the social worker who helped him find housing. (Emma Lee, for Newsworks).

This story was produced as part of Lifelines: Stories from the Human Safety Net, a project of the Journalism Center on Children and Families supported by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Foundation. It also appears on Newsworks.org

Written by Solomon

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